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matador restoration.


doug fleet

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Hi

 

Agree more restoration threads the better. Given that this post military service use is often responsible for the vehicle survival makes its restoration as a "fair ground" vehicle sounds good. When it is done and you are proudly showing, make up a vehicle display showing it's history from military to vehicle thru civil life.

 

Good luck on your restoration and keep us posted.

 

Cheers Phil

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Bring it on mate. It is always good to see another rare wagon that is in a safe pair of hands.

 

If you are still worried about the reception you may get from some forum members, have a look at my Civilian Militant blog!! Couldn't get less Military if it tried.

 

20151018_121455.jpg

 

You may get one or two comments about it not being green but it will just be good natured mickey taking. My biggest critic on here is now a good friend

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Yes we can mostly thank civilian service for saving many of our early vehicles.

I have been thinking about restoring one of my gun tractors as the recovery truck it was for 40 years.

But mostly civilian service look is very easy to convert back to military, mostly a matter of paint.

ev05.jpg

IMG_3492.jpg

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The afterlife of these trucks is just as important as their original purpose. I first fell in love with Matadors and Scammell pioneers from watching the local showmen nosing trailers in and out of the winter quarters with them.

Keep the pictures coming!

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the green one is 1944 . converted to timber tractor and worked for station road saw mills in oxford.i have owned it for 14 years .the showmans one is 1943 armour plated ( as most of you know). theres an angle brace that goes right across the chassie number ,so iam going to cut it out take the number and weld it back in. the intresting thing is the fuel tank, air bottleare on the opposite sides to a standerd matador. why i dont know. i read that about 475 were made and we can acount for about 10 in the world that we know about. but there must be more around .it was purchased by the downs family in the 1950s and converted to pull there gallopers around which they still travel .it sat in there yard for about 38 years and was offerd to me or it was going for scrap they said. i have had it about 5 years now . it runs and drives . on the engine there is a patch on no 5 cylinder where i think a big end let go. we are restoring it back as it was on the fair because it has spent most of its life like that .we steam cleaned it last week end ready to make a start . we have already changed the tyres . all the underneath is painted in olive drab which iam going to put back on it ..

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Nice truck. Do you know any of the history of it? Apart from it being a fairground truck - who was it? What year is it etc? :) Nice to see another in the background too!

 

Judging from the shape of the framework behind the cab, this was once a Dorchester Armoured Command Vehicle rather than a Matador - is that correct?

 

Edit - I've just seen your post on the AEC Armoured Cars thread - so it is a Dorchester - a rare beastie indeed.

Edited by simon king
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hiya all the brakes are full air . the cab as far as i know looks original ,just has the armour cut off. the windscreens are caravan windows as the armour ones are far to small to see through when driving and towing 2 trailers.they were never fitted with a winch either . it does run and drive and the brakes start to work but the drain plug in the air bottle is missing . . hopping to get back on it next weekend as work got in the way last weekend. when i had a quick look the other night the steam cleaning has uncoverd some numbers writen on the chassie rail and engine sump. thanks for all the kind coments as i thought i would get dragged around a field for putting it on here.

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Hi Doug, great to see your Matadors and looking forward to watching the progress.

With regards to the numbers painted on the sump I would think that they will be the grade/type of oil that was used in that particular component, also you will probably find them on the g/box, diffs etc. The ones on the chassis could well be the markings to show the location of the drain cocks on the engine block or the oil for a component near the chassis i.e. the air compressor. But without seeing photos it's hard to say for sure.

Regards, Mel

DSC03253.JPG

Rear Diff.JPG

Trailer Brake Chamber.JPG

DSC03254.JPG

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hiya matman thanks for the photos . with the help of you guys i feel like we will find out some of its history and what the numbers are or were. there is olive drab paint in places under neath so iam going to put all the numbers and olive drab back on it . i will keep the photos comming as we get on .

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This is the number painted on the sump of my Matador (it's the only number I've found painted on the engine), I don't know if it refers to the part number of the sump, as someone else suggested, as mine is fitted with an A193 petrol engine, and I don't have a parts manual that covers the engine, and the diesel engine sump is not the same. The engine colour is also light grey, as can be seen in the picture.

 

Nick

sump.jpg

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right then i had to cut a body stay in half to get to the chassie number , which is the same as the one on the engine cover . 0583 4385 . there is no brass workshop plate fitted ( or we havent found it yet). the engine number is A 173SD190. on the engine sump is WO 35/ 37. on the front axle there is a white patch painted on the front of it . i cant make out what the numbers were. on the back axle but the front of it is punched pat 117777 , then underneath is 1918 F2N then underneath is F10150 , 101 then in a triangle is 19. on the back of the back axle is 7.9 punched in to it at the top . could this be the axle ratio ??? there is a white patch painted on it aswell but cant quiet see what the letters are .we got a tempary fuel supple igged up so i can drive it out when iam down there on me own .at the moment i tow it out with the landrover while my 15 year old son steers it .the wife will put some photos on in a bit. sorry cant spell very well.

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